How can Westerners practice Brahmacharya ?

[Sage_Elias]

It is said that a person who observes celibacy in thought, word and deed will have large amounts of life energy stored up within his system. This  practice of conserving our sexual energy and then channeling this energy towards our spiritual life of meditation is called Brahmacharya.

Many spiritual teachers disagree on what Brahmacharya means and how we ought to practice it. Some teachers say we should strive to conserve ALL OF OUR SEXUAL ENERGY LIKE THE MONKS AND NUNS. Eg. Swami Sivananda, Swami Vivekananda, Sri Ramakrishna, Sadhguru, Gandhi and others.

On the other hand, other teachers say we should have copulation only for the sake of having children...and after this deed is done then we must not repeat the act.

Some teachers even say that sex is not a big concern because it is a natural bodily process and so long as our spiritual practice is the central thing in our life then an occasional copulation is no big deal.

Im a young man with raging hormones and I have read many books and articles on this topic and still I am confused about the topic of Brahmacharya. 

So how can a westerner like myself practice a healthy form of Brahmacharya ?

[Prabhaker]

5 hours ago, Sage_Elias said:

Some teachers say we should strive to conserve ALL OF OUR SEXUAL ENERGY LIKE THE MONKS AND NUNS.

Even Mahatma Gandhi at the age of seventy was having wet dreams, so what to say of others? Forty years he struggled to remain celibate, and the only result was that he was having wet dreams. He believed that unless sexual energy is controlled your spirituality remains imperfect.

5 hours ago, Sage_Elias said:

So how can a westerner like myself practice a healthy form of Brahmacharya ?

Brahmacharya can't be practiced, it happens when sex really disappears, without any repression, when it disappears through meditation or prayer.

[Sage_Elias]

@Prabhaker lol okay... then why do so many saints are adamant that we should be celibate ?

Edited August 5, 2018 by Sage_Elias

[Prabhaker]

9 minutes ago, Sage_Elias said:

why do so many saints are adamant that we should be celibate ?

We call them saints because they are adamant that we should be celibate, it creates very difficult situation for an ordinary seeker.

[Sage_Elias]

thank you bro...

[Leo Gura]

This is a very classic spiritual trap.

Sexual repression does not work and will actually retard your development.

True celebacy comes AFTER decades of deep spiritual work. It must come naturally, not be forced.

People think they can ape enlightened masters and become enlightened that way -- by copying their external behaviors -- but that doesn't work. What's required is an inner transformation, which only comes from deep practice.

This is the whole problem of the Catholic Church in a nutshell.

Also, don't compare yourself at 20 years old to a 60 year old yogi. The hormone levels are totally different. In their 20's many of these yogis were likely fornicating like rabbits. See Gandhi as one example.

[Viking]

14 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

This is a very classic spiritual trap.

Sexual repression does not work and will actually retard your development.

True celebacy comes AFTER decades of deep spiritual work. It must come naturally, not be forced.

People think they can ape enlightened masters and become enlightened that way -- by copying their external behaviors -- but that doesn't work. What's required is an inner transformation, which only comes from deep practice.

This is the whole problem of the Catholic Church in a nutshell.

Also, don't compare yourself at 20 years old to a 60 year old yogi. The hormone levels are totally different. In their 20's many of these yogis were likely fornicating like rabbits. See Gandhi as one example.

and if one is an incel and has masturbation/porn addiction, should he indulge in them?

[Sage_Elias]

3 hours ago, Viking said:

and if one is an incel and has masturbation/porn addiction, should he indulge in them?

@Viking lol thats a good question !

17 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Sexual repression does not work and will actually retard your development.

@Leo Gura actually...from what I've read, the saints are aware that repression or supression of our sexual desire is a dangerous thing to do. They say that this is the wrong attitude towards brahmacharya. 

Instead, they suggest that we approach the practice with an attitude of gaining something (positive motivation) rather than an attitude of avoiding something (negative motivation). Check out what Sadhguru has to say:

 

[Dogsbestfriend]

Hmm you could argue that by trying to focus on being celibate you might be diverting energy to that no? 

[BuddhaTree]

20 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Sexual repression does not work and will actually retard your development.

 

Spot on. Repressing is much worse. You need to practice Kriya and start converting that energy into spiritual purpose. This comes with time, practice and understanding!

[Leo Gura]

10 hours ago, Viking said:

and if one is an incel and has masturbation/porn addiction, should he indulge in them?

Life is indulgence. The key question is: Is your indulgence turning into dysfunction?

If you call yourself an "incel" then the most important thing you need to do is to get out of the house and start socializing. Stop living in your virtual world of video games, Youtube, social media, Reddit, and online forums. Go connect with real people in the real world.

[Pernani]

3 hours ago, see_on_see said:

Fap freely. But do it the right way.

There are two kinds of fap: the Happy Fap and the Sad Fap. 

The Sad Fap is when you feel like a loser and fap having negative mental images in your mind of being a loser with no girls and feeling negative emotions in your body. 

The Happy Fap is when you feel like you have abundance with girls and you feel amazing. Use your imagination while you fap, and visualize having sex with girls that accept you and love you. Avoid negative thoughts and images that come from your current bad self-image. That will boost your confidence and will make fapping a lot better and more satisfying. 

That's just lost energy, even if it's a happy fap you do feel a significant drop in energy afterwards and a feeling of dullness, right ?

[Prabhaker]

15 hours ago, Viking said:

and if one is an incel and has masturbation/porn addiction, should he indulge in them?

Neither be repressive nor be indulgent. Be watchful, be alert. Fighting with your own energies, you are fighting with yourself, you cannot win. 

Many saints/masters emphasis on celibacy is not because they are against sex, it is about simply making a different use of it, a positive use of sex energy. If you make celibacy your goal, you will become pervert or insane. A celibacy without meditation is nothing but sexual repression. 

All that brings you again and again to sexuality has to be dropped slowly, in steps. Only meditation can be taught, celibacy is the result. As meditation ripens, celibacy comes to fruit by itself. All effort is to be put into meditation. Masturbation/porn addiction is the absence of meditation. Your meditation is not ripened. 

[Pernani]

1 hour ago, see_on_see said:

Nope. After an orgasm, I feel blissful, refreshed, relaxed, focused and ready to work, meditate or whatever I have to do afterwards.

You sure you don't injaculate ? 

Also I've read in the book the multi orgasmic man that engaging in masturbation or sexual activity amplifies your emotions before the act

[Prabhaker]

On 8/5/2018 at 7:10 AM, Sage_Elias said:

why do so many saints are adamant that we should be celibate ?

Many saints are adamant that we should be celibate, they recommend celibacy to every seeker !

Oh my gosh, look ... what they actually do!

He says he is the most watched Guru on YouTube.

Edited August 7, 2018 by Prabhaker